Build networks

Networks can provide personal contacts that in the long run can lead to jobs. Other benefits are that you learn more about working life in Sweden and practise speaking and writing Swedish.

Networking on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an important social channel in professional life. Recruiters often use LinkedIn, both to find people with a certain skill set and to find out more about a person applying for a particular job.

Being active on LinkedIn is a way of becoming visible to more people. You can also find possible employers and people who have the type of job that you are looking for. By following people, you'll learn about their company or industry.

Create a profile: where you present yourself much like in a CV, with experience and education. State your professional orientation and clearly show that you are looking for a job.

Send contact requests: When you meet someone in real life, you can ask to connect, create a contact, on LinkedIn. You can also search for people who work in your industry or in your profession. When you send a contact request, you can write a short message, such as:

"I am looking for a job in your industry and would like to read your posts. I hope you want to connect with me."

"Follow" employers you are interested in: Then you can learn more about what the company does and get notifications in your feed when they have vacancies. This shows interest and commitment - something that is often in demand and highly valued when recruiting.

Be active and demonstrate your skills: To begin with, you can like and share other people's posts or add a comment. When you start to feel more at home, you can make your own posts. Always keep a positive tone: LinkedIn is not the place for debating things.

Find professional colleagues

There are many different projects and organisations that create contact between people born abroad and professional colleagues.

Swedenergy - Energiföretagen Sverige has its own mentoring program, Energy Buddies,  where you can find a mentor in an energy company. It takes place during the autumn and the application is made at the end of summer. The program is in Swedish.

You can also connect with a person in your industry through the programmes Yrkesdörren and Mitt Livs Chans. You can register your interest with them at any time.

It can be a good idea to become a member of a professional association, a technical association or a trade union where others with in profession are involved. Sometimes they have local associations that arrange meetings, study visits and courses. For those of you who are technicians or engineers, Engineers of Sweden is another option.

Remember that it is also important to include experience from mentoring programmes and association involvement in your CV. It is positive to be active and it shows that you have sought opportunities to practise your Swedish.

Practise Swedish with homework help and language café

In many places there are language cafés that welcome both people born abroad and Swedes. They are arranged by organisations such as the Red Cross or IM, by a local organisation or a church. Google the words "språkcafé" or "språkfika" together with the name of the place where you live.

A language café often lasts a couple of hours every week. You don't need to sign up and it costs nothing to join. The set-up varies, but sometimes you can get help to create and check your Swedish CV.

Röda Korset läxhjälp
IM – språkcaféer och läxhjälp